THE ORIGINALS

RAJ AND DK HAVE CONQUERED THE OTT SPACE YET AGAIN WITH FARZI. TANISHA BHATTACHARYA TAKES NOTES AS THEY EXPLAIN HOW THEY COME UP WITH THEIR ZANY IDEAS

- TANISHA BHATTACHARYA

Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK could have been IT millionaires but chose to leave that world behind to try their luck at filmmaking. Be it films like 99 (2009), Shor In The City (2011), Go Goa Gone (2013), Happy Ending (2014) and A Gentleman (2017) or shows like The Family Man (2019) or Farzi (2023), they've always been applauded for their unique approach. They've been known to combine a mix of action and humour in their products and have a habit of jumping genres rather than sticking to the tried and the tested. In a candid interview, the director duo explains what makes them tick. Excerpts:

WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE CRIME THRILLER GENRE THAT YOU LIKE SO MUCH?

Raj: I don't believe we set out to create crime thrillers. I don't even know if we think of them as crime thrillers. For us, it is really more about putting a lens on a certain section of people, a certain landscape, or a certain subject or concept. For any of these, we are just giving our take on that subject or concept. If it ends up being a crime or thriller, it is that, I guess. We just go with it, and an automatic sense of humour creeps in. But otherwise, it is really just our take.

DK: If you look at the list of films we've done, you'll notice that we've always jumped genres, regardless of how successful the previous one was. Like when we did a 99 it was a certain kind of film. If you can call it a crime caper comedy, that is what it was, and then jump to Shor In The City, which is a very serious, gritty drama. And just when everyone was giving it good reviews, we immediately jumped in and did a zombie comedy, Go Goa Gone. We've always wanted to explore everything rather than slot ourselves into what is working.

WAS SHAHID KAPOOR THE OBVIOUS CHOICE FOR FARZI?